The Truth About So-Called “Free” Credit Card Payment Processing

With transactions more and more frequently involving online payment methods rather than in-person interactions, it is crucial for businesses be able to calculate the fees associated with internet merchant accounts and online services. One of the biggest fees facing businesses in 2020 with an online component is the transaction fee applied to every debit and credit card purchase. The accumulated weight of these fees can be a challenge for many businesses.

Of course, credit cards can not be processed completely for free, but transaction fees can be mitigated by using merchant account services.

Account fees

Some internet merchant accounts offer additional services without extra charges, including credit card payment processing software or hardware. Naturally, the ability to process payments and the act of doing so are different. While some providers may try to trick merchants by calling them by some other name, there is ultimately no way to get transaction fees down to zero, because each transaction costs the payment processor to perform.

The amount of these fees can vary depending upon the payment processor. For example, processors may be forced to charge more for their services if a business is in a high-risk industry. Those businesses might want to learn their risk level so that they can budget for transaction fees. While this level isn’t set in stone, high-risk industries are those that are more likely to have their transactions disputed or “charged back.” This is a statistically more common occurrence in healthcare, gambling, timeshares, weapons, travel, and pharmaceutical fields, for example.

Businesses in those or other high-risk industries may be daunted by the prospect of paying extra on their transactions. But by selecting a merchant account provider who works with high-risk businesses, they can mitigate these fees as much as possible.

How to lower fees

Transaction fees related to risk affect credit card processing but not eCheck payments. This means that services offered by an internet account provider can be used to avoid fees by offering customers different ways to process payments. eChecks are also a great addition to any business’s arsenal, because, even though most customers prefer to pay by credit card, a smaller number either cannot or prefer not to.

The Takeaway

No matter what a business does, “free” credit card payment processing is never a real option. Visit Charge.com or call them at (888) 924-2743 to obtain an internet merchant account, including credit card processing software. They work with businesses of any size to offer the lowest transaction fees no matter the risk level of the business.